


A Lifetime

by EternityRoze262



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Coming of Age, Dark, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Hurt/Comfort, In a strange sort of way, Mystery, Slice of Life, Supernatural Elements, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-13 01:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10503513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternityRoze262/pseuds/EternityRoze262
Summary: His face lifts to gaze at his sleeping angel, knowing that her lively portrait will soon be destroyed by the final grain of imaginary sand. Her last words resonate with his aging mind, and he deliberately allows her wrinkled, loving hands to slip from his own bony fingers. "Do you think…Zuko, if we met in a different lifetime, do you think things would be different?"





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello readers! I've decided to post this story up on AO3 as well. The prologue is to commemorate Day 4 of Zutara Week 2016 - Lilac. But it actually has some references to the other themes as well. Although there is an underlying focus on Zutara, I'm focusing more heavily on character interactions and behaviors. Thanks in advance for reading!

\- Prologue -

 _Unable to fly alone, a wingless bird_  
_Waits for you who has gone beyond a dark dream_  
_You close your eyes in the everlasting love_  
_Please tell me you’re in a deep sleep_

 _~Dream in a Miniature Garden  
_  

Ninety-five year old Katara laid upright peacefully on a mountain of pillows stacked upon the head of her small, wooden bed. Half of her body was tucked in with warm layers of cotton blankets. Her face relaxed, absorbing the warmth of the sunlight as it illuminated the comfortable room she resided in. She inhaled softly, taking in the scent of her new home.

It had been three months since she was transferred to this nursing home in Republic City…

Two weeks since she sent out the letters to her family and friends…

Five days since the doctors started giving her confused looks…

Five days was too much- she was more than aware of that.

But Katara didn’t mind constantly hearing how she was incredibly lucky. She knew just how lucky she really was. Just a week ago, Katara was lying flat on the very same bed, white walls surrounding her. She drifted in and out of consciousness. Despite the fatigue over encumbering her, she was able to capture snippets of the doctors’ shared reports as they lingered outside her room.  

_“…very weak…_

_….._

_…it’s natural…_

_….._

_maybe…_

_….. …couple days at most…_

_………._

_….._

_…”_

_I forgive you._

A sudden urge to reverse the glass figure,

To tilt the ocean,

Recollect the sands.

Grasping at invisible lifelines…

…..

“Katara?” A familiar voice arose from the doorway. The master waterbender would’ve recognized that raspy voice anywhere.

“Zuko,” she gave a warm smile, welcoming him into the room. She noticed his chest heaving as he breathed heavily and stepped through the doorway. The firebender cordially returned the smile and took careful steps around her bed.

“Don’t forget about me,” came a chipper voice following behind Zuko.

Katara chuckled. “I could never forget about you, Toph. Thank you both for coming to visit me.”

The blind earthbender grinned. “Hey, anything for our old friend.”

The two visitors pulled up wooden chairs and sat to Katara’s left side, where the sunlight could warm their bodies. As soon as they got settled, Katara found herself faced with flowers, emanating a light, sweet scent. 

“We brought some lilacs as a little gift. Zuko’s idea. He picked them out.” Toph handed her the bouquet nonchalantly and she accepted it with ease. 

“They’re beautiful,” the waterbender replied joyfully and inhaled the lilac’s signature fragrance.

“How are you feeling?” Zuko sputtered, wasting no time to jump to the important stuff.

Katara lowered the bundle of lilacs to her lap. “Better now that you two are here.”

“Really? You’re not too faint or anything?”

The waterbender raised a playful eyebrow. “Do I look faint to you?”

“The letter you sent made it sound like you were in critical condition. I thought… I thought we might have been too late,” Zuko stammered.

“It’s just old age. There’s nothing unusual or critical about it,” she calmly reassured.

Her response made Toph snicker. “Same old, stubborn Katara.”

Their conversation took off from there, letting one another know what they had been up to for the past decades. They shared and discussed stories of accomplishments, failures, funny incidents, memorable events, and anything else that came into mind. Although, storytelling wasn’t really Toph nor Zuko’s forte, so it was more like Katara was retelling memories and they just added their own amusing details. Each story followed with either a laugh in unison, strange looks to one another followed by taunts, or a “friendly” argument which often resulted in Toph laughing maniacally, and insisting that she was in the right and to move on with the story or else she would start throwing punches (not really).

While conversing, the earthbender noticed something different in the air. The atmosphere was almost too comfortable, and not just because they were all close friends. She noted how many times Zuko’s heart rate hitched, especially when Katara spoke his name. She lost count (and was convinced that he would have a heart attack soon from his heart’s heavy pounding). Honestly, Toph couldn’t remember the last time Zuko had been so enthralled. (Speaking of which, when was the last time he even smiled?) There was also the sound of Katara’s heartbeat, and she swore she could even hear the sound of something flowing deep within. But she decided to keep that observation to herself for now.

The memories led them all the way back to their adventures during the Hundred Years’ War. It was unbelievable to think that they had known each other for so long.

Finally, Toph let out a lengthy sigh. “We sure went through a ton of life-changing adventures together, didn’t we?”

Katara couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “We sure did.”

The room grew silent, inviting everyone to reminisce on their own. The tension in the air starting to build, and Katara decided to break the silence.

“Oh, lighten up, you two. I didn’t ask you to visit me just to wallow up in past memories and cry the whole evening.”

“I don’t cry! And neither does Zuko!” Toph snapped but grew suspicious when the firebender also decided to speak.

“That’s kind of inevitable, don’t you think? With how you are at the moment?” Zuko insisted but Katara would have none of it.

“I’m fine, Zuko. Even the doctors say so. And it helps that it’s been so peaceful around here. It’s perfect for sharing moments like this with my friends.”  

A light knock on the door disrupted their conversation. The three friends turn to find a middle-aged female doctor standing before the door.

“Good evening! It’s time for Katara’s evening checkup. Visiting hours are just about to end, and then it’s the resting hours, so I’m afraid I have to ask you two to leave for the night.”

The two visitors agreed and said their goodnights to Katara. Zuko took a final glance back before leaving for the night. Something was off about Katara. Things didn’t match up. And he noticed that the veins beneath her skin were prominently more present than usual.

**x - x - x**

When the two friends were far from hearing distance, Toph swiftly pulled the firebender off to the side, making him stumble before his reflexes kicked in to catch himself. He was just about to question her sudden actions when she whispered to him in a harsh voice, “She’s lying.”

Zuko furrowed his eyebrows. “Lying?”

“Her heart is so weak, I’m surprised she’s even alive right now.”

It shouldn’t have been anything new to him, but hearing that information escape from Toph’s mouth confirmed everything he had refused to believe while making the trip to the nursing home.

Zuko recollected himself, trying to sound reasonable. “Katara’s a waterbending master. She could be healing herself.”

“Not just healing though- healing _and_ bloodbending.” She spoke the last word carefully, ending in a whisper. “But she can’t keep bending forever. Katara is strong willed, but she also knows when to accept her destiny.” Zuko noticed the slight pause as the earthbender straightened to face him firmly once again. “She’s resisting… she may or may not be conscious she’s doing it, but it definitely explains why she’s holding on so tightly.”

Hearing the earthbender’s truthful words hurt. Zuko shut his eyes tightly, trying to lessen the pain. “Something is keeping her here. She would never, _ever_ resort to bloodbending unless there was,” he stated. “Unfulfilled goals? Secrets she needs to pass on to someone? Fear of death?” He racked his brains at the other countless possibilities that could have been the reason for her resistance.

“Whatever it is, she needs to confront it soon.” Toph crossed her arms. A second later, her head twitched upward and Zuko stared at her curiously, waiting for her to speak. “I have an idea. Why don’t you help find what she’s looking for? I’m sure you’ll be able to put her at ease.”

Zuko bit his lip briefly before answering. “I’ll try tomorrow. What about you? What will you do?”

Toph shifted her stance so that she was facing the ward full of doctors gathered around the front desk. “I’m going to talk to some of the doctors around here. See how Katara’s _really_ doing.”

So much for sharing peaceful moments with friends. Now, they had a new task to fulfill.

**x - x – x**

He was running on adrenaline now. Thoughts of the waterbender’s current state kept him frantic all night; he barely slept. It wasn’t like he was obsessed with her, despite how his reactions contradicted that point. There were many things Zuko regretted in his past- how he betrayed Katara was one of them. But that wasn’t why he was in such a panicked state. Since they first met in the South Pole, a strange sensation fluttered within him whenever they interacted. That sensation made it very difficult to simply remove her from his life. He didn’t completely hate the result of his life now. It was just… something felt…

Incomplete.

Zuko stormed inside Toph’s room the next morning to find her sitting on the edge of her bed with her eyes closed, her arms and legs crossed in a contemplative manner. “So? What did they say?”

“We were right,” the blind earthbender confirmed. “The doctors are just as confused as we were about her health. She wasn’t expected to live this long, not since they checked her about a week ago.”

Zuko’s spirits lighten, but just faintly. Hearing that Katara had held out that long was more than reassuring. They definitely wouldn’t have made it in time if she had succumbed to it a week ago. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel that it was their fault Katara had surpassed her days of expected survival.

“Her bloodbending…” he concluded softly.

“Yes, but it’s not doing any good for her body,” Toph firmly reminded.

Zuko didn’t think so. If anything, her bending would be making things worse. He could only imagine how exhausting it was to heal herself from the inside out and then force her blood to flow every so often just to keep herself alive. The firebender could understand to an extent, being familiar with his own inner fire and how draining it was to keep that kindling under worst-case circumstances.

But there was another problem. Bloodbending was illegal. Katara herself had made it illegal, and yet here she was disobeying her own rules. It was unjustified, but Zuko forgave her. No one but he and Toph knew about her actions. And truth be told, she was technically already dead, her mind and body only being temporarily prolonged by her bending.

If Katara were dealing with any other medical condition, Zuko would have stayed by her side, reassuring her that they were fighting through her illness together. But there was no avoiding old age. The thought of the inevitable upcoming struck his heart with almost as much power as Azula’s lightning did to his chest years ago. With eyes unfocused, he slumped to his knees.

Toph strode over and rested a hand lightly on his shoulder. “I’m going to miss her too.”

**x - x – x**

Zuko could handle death. He was exposed to more than he needed to during the Hundred Years’ War. It was natural. It was part of life. And because of that, Zuko learned to become concrete with his emotions of grief. If he could help it, he would keep those emotions in control, rarely allowing tears to escape. He would let no one see. And he was doing a pretty good job. Except… this was concerning Katara.

If the firebender was simply informed of Katara’s death, he would have brushed it off as a false rumor since he was not present to witness it. And if he was never updated on Katara’s death until the time of his own passing, he would have strongly convinced himself that she was still alive and well, no matter how illogical that reason was.

But that was not the outcome life struck him with.

Zuko was well informed of Katara’s current state, and to make things worse, no one was sure how much longer Katara was going to be able to hold on. It was like a time bomb waiting to go off. Every second mattered, and who knew how much time they had left.

Later that morning, Toph and Zuko entered Katara’s room, surprised to discover that she already had a room full of visitors surrounding her. Zuko recognized them all as Katara’s family: Tenzin and his family as well as what he concluded to be Katara’s other son and daughter. The family turned to see who had was at the door, smiling when they saw familiar faces.

“Toph!” Meelo, the third child of Tenzin, shouted with an open smile.

Toph stepped through the door with her arms held behind her back. “Good morning people. And you, Sugar Queen— how’d you sleep?”

“It was fine, thanks Toph,” Katara replied from her bed, still covered in warm layers of blankets. It seemed like she was glued to her spot since no one ever saw her move from her bed. Zuko wondered if she was even capable of walking without assistance.

“You didn’t sleep, did you?” Toph said casually, pulling up another wooden chair from the side.  

Zuko gave her a knowing look, not wanting to reveal to everyone what the waterbender was doing to her body.

Toph wasn’t worried. “You just look tired is all. I don’t blame you when you’re like this.”

Finally, Zuko stepped into the room. “We brought more lilacs.” He immediately went to the other side of the bed, where a side desk held a vase with the lilacs they had brought her yesterday. In front of it was a basket full of other various flowers, probably a gift from the rest of Katara’s family. Without hesitation, Zuko joined the lilacs together. The flowers bloomed in unison. The light, pale shade of purple along with the bright colours from the basket brought a palette of colour to the room that would have otherwise remained monochrome.

The gesture brought a warm smile to the Katara’s face. “Thank you.”

All together, the three generations of family and friends huddled around the small bed like it was a fireplace. More than quadruple the stories were being told now. But that also meant quadruple the voices and quadruple the sorrow. Zuko observed Katara’s children and grandchildren, how united they were, the imperfections it held, but also how remarkably alive every one of them were. His eyes wandered the room inconspicuously, and he had a feeling that the spirit of Avatar Aang, his old friend and Katara’s deceased husband, could easily be lingering around the premises.

“Thanks to every one of you for taking the time to enjoy such precious moments with me and everyone here,” Katara mentioned after things quieted down.

“Of course,” her daughter, Kya, replied. “You’re our mother, and we love you.”

The earthbender waved a hand out towards the visitors. “Yeah,” Toph agreed. “Look at this. You have so much love and support. Even the retired Fire Lord made time to see you. You must be honoured.”

“Toph…” Zuko warned in a low voice, embarrassed that she was trying to make an honour joke after all these years, but also because he had a suspicion that she was trying to hint at something else. And he did not want that something to be revealed in front of everyone.

Jinora, the eldest daughter of Tenzin, merely laughed it off. “I still can’t believe you two used to be enemies. Would you have ever expected to be friends?”

“Destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out,” Zuko quoted with a nostalgic look.  

Jinora’s younger sister, Ikki, jumped in with a spontaneous question. “So when did you two first start becoming friends?”

The children especially awaited his story eagerly, although one could hardly call them children now. Zuko glanced at Katara, wondering if she wanted the privilege of answering that personal question herself. When she pursed her lips together and started playing with the seams of her blanket, the firebender took that as a sign to do the talking. “We came to… an understanding in the Crystal Catacombs under Ba Sing Se,” he started slowly.

Well… that was pretty vague, but what else could he say? Zuko realized that this was the first time either of them spoke of what happened in those underground caves. It had been over seventy years and he was still able to recall the pivotal moment. But words never really liked him. And everyone knew he was a horrible storyteller. He waited to see if Katara would pick up the story while everyone else kept their eyes focused on Zuko, waiting for him to continue. But he didn’t exactly know how to. Their relationship always seemed to change whenever they were alone together.

Not change… _develop_.

The prolonged silence caught up to them, and finally, Meelo spoke up. “Did you two used to like each other or something?”

“Meelo!” Tenzin started firmly to which the boy rose his hands innocently.

“I’m just asking—”  

“It’s okay.” Zuko reassured, lowering his head slightly. “There wasn’t any time for that back then. War makes things very difficult.”

Gold eyes merged with sapphire eyes.

A game of who could hold out the longest.

The awkward turtleduck kept swimming.

Toph grinned. “Why aren’t you saying anything, Sweetness?”

“I’m just enjoying the entertainment of having Zuko in the spotlight,” she responded. _Nice lie_ , Zuko countered internally.

Fortunately, Katara’s response got a laugh out of everyone.

A knock on the door interrupted their small party. The same doctor from last night appeared at the foot of the door. “Pardon me. It’s time for Katara’s afternoon checkup. I’ll have to kindly ask all of you to leave the room for a moment.”

All members of the family rose to their feet understandingly before shuffling out the door. Katara watched with thoughtful eyes as each person left the room. Zuko and Toph were the last to leave. Instead of immediately leaving the room, the retired Fire Lord moved to the side desk adorned by flowers. His old hands lightly brushed the clustered petals of the lilacs. He paid intricate attention to the way they danced at his touch and swayed back to a still formation.

Toph noticed Zuko’s actions and smirked at his excuse to stall before taking her time out the room, being sure to linger behind just enough to catch in on their conversation. But then, another idea came into mind. “Hey doctor…”

The female doctor turned to face the blind earthbender and Toph took the opportunity to buy the two friends some time alone. “So about what I was talking about last night, concerning Katara…”

A fresh spring breeze whispered through the open crack of the window. Zuko’s eyes widened as the breeze caressed his wrinkled hand and he shifted his head toward the glass frame, lamenting the situation he was in.

“Why lilacs?” a sweet voice rose from Zuko’s left. He blinked in surprise, turning to face Katara properly for the first time since he had arrived.

“They’re pretty, aren’t they?” he said gently.

Katara lowered her jaw to speak, but paused, and Zuko could hear the silent words leave her breath, the words she wished to say. Instead she sunk into her bed, eyes locked with his. “Yes, they are.”

Coarse sand melts into glass beads.

Their delicate shape rains from the heavens to the earth.

The ocean piles the entity.

But how many raindrops are willing to be sacrificed to feign perpetuation?

He barricades the water’s currents.

But the river continues flowing.

And he feels her life rushing past him.

**x - x - x**

As Zuko exited the room, his eyes collected on a short green robed figure in front of him. Her eyebrows furrowed and she bunched both fists on the side of her hips.

“You call that trying?” she exclaimed.

Zuko merely sighed, stepping past her. “I can’t do this.”

But that seemed to be the last straw for Toph. She chased him down the hallway with heavy footsteps. “Really? You’re just going to leave it like that? No confession? Not even a hint?” She struck out a hand, bending off the nearest metal doorknob to use as a form of handcuff restraint. Instantly following, she shoved Zuko into the wall clamoring the metal around his wrist, gluing it to the wall and forcing him in place. “Are you being serious right now?!”

“As if what Meelo brought up wasn’t a big enough hint already!” he retaliated feeling his cheeks start to heat up and not because of his inner fire. The impact of hitting the wall ruffled his long hair, strands of misplaced hair strewed forward. “I can’t tell her, Toph. It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s not going to change anything. It’s not going to change who we are, or who we used to be.”

Toph merely scoffed. “So that’s it? You’re really content with how this is going to end? You’re going to lose your only chance of telling her how you truly feel about her! And you’re not even going to say anything?”

All the yelling had started to attract the workers’ attention, and they scrambled to see what the problem was. Toph stomped her foot. “I gotta knock some sense into this guy because he’s being a pain in my butt, so you can all pretend you’re not hearing anything right now, got it?” Everyone gave the two plenty of private space after her threat.

The old fire lord shut his eyes, thankfully allowing his long bangs to curtain his face. He wasn’t surprised that she had been able to unravel his hidden feelings, but now he had to deal with her earthy stubbornness. “Of course I’m not satisfied with how it all turned out. But we’re nearing a hundred years old now. It wouldn’t be appropriate to speak of it when we’ve already shared more than half our lives with another loved one… when we’ve already created a thriving _family_ with another loved one. It’s pointless to bring up past feelings now.”

The metalbender finally cooled down, satisfied in hearing his honesty. “You know, you haven’t been denying that those feelings for her still exist.”

“Toph, please,” Zuko insisted coldly. “It was a sequence of first teenage love. There is no need for me and Katara to revisit that.”

“You’re right,” she jeered, having had enough of his own stubbornness. “It doesn’t matter, because her body is going to give out any moment now anyways. Do you even know how much pain she’s in right now? She doesn’t show it, but her body is literally falling apart. She’s willingly choosing to keep herself alive—”

“I know all that, okay?!”

“I’m not finished! She’s willingly choosing to keep herself alive for _you_!”

Zuko jerked his head up, eyes wide open. “Why…?”

Toph ceased her fighting stance, shaking her head. “I don’t know. Maybe there are some unspoken truths that need to come out.”

“You know that’s not an option,” Zuko said through his gritted teeth.

“Then at least let her move on.”

“What?” Zuko blinked in shock.

“You heard me. Convince her to stop bloodbending.” She marched forward until she was inches away from his face. Her blank eyes conveyed more determination than his own. “Let her _go_.”

Zuko pondered the thought and then narrowed his eyes. “Why can’t you convince her?”

“Because, Zuko,” she started adamantly while pointing a strong finger at him, “ _You_ are the last thing keeping her here. I wasn’t too sure before, but after being around the two of you for the past few hours, I am positive that it is because of you. She needs closure, and she’s not going to leave until either you do something about it or she runs out of energy to bend.”

That seemed to cut him deep. Her last statement left him drifting from reality. There was no way he was going to force more pain onto Katara. Fog began to mist around his eyes but he blinked them away. _He would not show tears_ he reminded himself. He refused to. But it was like the internal rain was washing away his strength. He felt as if the metal clinging tightly to his wrist was the only thing supporting him up now.

Zuko inhaled deeply and choked out a faint breath. “I don’t want her to go. Just knowing she was alive in this world was enough to keep me happy.”

Toph finally released the metal restraining his hand to the wall, the tension in her body residing. The old man didn’t try to recover his strength as he tumbled to the ground. “I know,” she said softly. “I’ll give you some time to think about it. But remember, there isn’t much time _left_.”

**x - x - x**

Katara awoke from the sound of the window opening, not that she was sleeping soundly in the first place. Still in her upright position, her eyes darted to the source of the sound to discover a hand lifting the window wide open. As the intruder climbed into her room, she caught sight of a blaring scar on the left side of the man’s face.

She let out a sigh of relief and chuckled at the sight of her old friend still attempting to execute his masquerade as the blue spirit (without the mask). “Aren’t you a little too old to be sneaking into a woman’s room at night?”

Hearing this, Zuko stumbled and clumsily crashed onto the floor, rubbing his elbows and knees with a groan. “Yep. I’m definitely too old for this.”

That brought a young smile to Katara’s aged face. She noticed that he did not come empty-handed, and her eyes brightened with the silver moonlight. “You brought more lilacs.”

“I thought maybe you’d like more,” Zuko reasoned, finally standing on his feet.

“So you decided to come during the middle of the night just to give me flowers?”

The firebender nodded. “You should feel honoured.” Now it was his turn to smirk at his own honour joke. Katara playfully rolled her eyes but didn’t make any further comments.

As Zuko was about to squeeze the bundle of freshly picked lilacs into the already overflowing vase of lilacs, he noticed, from the corner of his eye, Katara reaching a shaky hand out. Captivated by her humanity, he froze in his tracks, only conscious enough to know he was looking his past emotions straight in the face once again. Inadvertently, he reached his free hand to her, but then stopped himself short. The lilacs in his other hand were handed over to her like a precious treasure.

Katara brought the flowers to her face and inhaled the scent the same way she had first received them a day ago. With a seemingly innocent smile, she tilted her head towards Zuko. “These lilacs symbolize emotions of a first love. Did you know that?”

Zuko swallowed.

He hadn’t expected her to be so straightforward.

Although it wasn’t like she was implying anything…

Who was he kidding? They were both past their teenage years to know the truth behind those words. And with tonight’s decision, there was no need for him to hide anymore.

Zuko nodded his head again. “Yes.” Of course he knew the symbolism of lilacs. It was the reason he had chosen them for her in the first place.

“Good,” Katara simply replied and then brought the lilacs down to her lap. “So why are you really here?”

The firebender took a seat on the chair that hadn’t moved from that morning. “I thought it would be nice to talk to you alone for once.”

“We never really had much time alone, did we?”

“No, we didn’t.”

“Maybe we should’ve taken longer on our field trip together.” A smile widened on Katara’s face, leading Zuko to return the smile.

“Maybe. And have Appa fly around in circles for a bit.”

“Aang would’ve been beyond frustrated at us for using Appa so long.”

Zuko restrained a smirk but it failed. “We could’ve handled him. We fight well together.”

The waterbender teasingly retracted at his statement. “Who said I would’ve fought Aang with you? I would’ve left all of his fury to you. Aang would forgive me.”

“It was your field trip!”

“It was your idea!”

A light flickered on from the hallway, creating a yellow hue visible from underneath the door, and the two friends realized just how loud they had gotten. They crouched as they heard footsteps grow louder, stopping before Katara’s room. A shadow appeared at the foot of the door, probably a doctor checking if Katara was in danger, but after a few more exchanged funny looks from the two friends, the shadow retreated and the lights blinked out.

After the spontaneous moment, they settled into the peaceful night. Their eyes met instantly, and Katara fell silent.

“Zuko…” she finally whispered.

“Yes? What is it?”

“What happened to us…? We could’ve been…” her eyes wandered the room, probably trying to find the appropriate word. “…friends.”

“We _are_ friends, Katara,” he heartened.

The waterbender diverted her eyes. “I meant that… we didn’t have to meet that way, being enemies.”

Zuko understood her notion. “There was a war, and we were forced to meet at a bad time.” But was there ever such a thing as good timing?

“Do you think…Zuko, if we met in a different lifetime, do you think things would be different?” Her eyes gleamed with hope, the hope that was instilled within her since she was a little girl.

“Yes, I do think things would be different.”

“How can you say that so easily?”

Zuko smirked. “Because next time, I’ll actually save you from the pirates.” He grasped her wrists in the same quick motion that he did years ago, and his face dropped at her touch. For the first time since his arrival, he realized just how faint she was— her wrists so delicate they would break if he tightened his grip. Zuko could feel the coolness of her wrinkled skin. He could feel the rhythm of her heartbeat from her wrist. He swore he might have even felt her blood rushing from her bending and wondered if she was feeling it too.

And that scared him.

Katara seemed to read his expression. “I’ll hold to it that you do,” she said with a sad smile.

“I will. I promise.” Zuko affirmed, bringing her bony hand up high enough to press his warm lips on it lovingly. Simultaneously, he reignited his inner fire to produce enough heat to warm her hands. A feeling of comfort purged through his existence when he felt her hands respond to his heat.

He was sure that even Katara knew a promise like that would only hold true in her dreams, but none of them wanted to surrender their game of pretend.  

“Thank you, Zuko. I’m happy that you are here.” Her speech was barely a whisper.

Zuko caressed her cheek with one hand, keeping his other hand in hers to warm her. But then his face turned serious.

“Katara, I know you must be in a lot of pain. And I want you to know that I am proud of you… for being one of the most powerful waterbenders I’ve ever had the chance to meet and fight, for being the most forgiving human being in the world to be able to forgive a stupid monster such as myself, but most of all… for being so incredibly strong that you would keep yourself alive, waiting for me.”

Katara’s eyes watered up immediately, but she remained still and silent. It was clear she was trying to repress her overflowing emotions responding to Zuko’s revelation.

Sometimes you do not need words to tell the whole story.

Lips slightly ajar. Hands trembling. Unfocused eyes, darting aimlessly across the room, always returning back to his golden eyes. For the first time since he saw her at the nursing home, she looked frightened.

Her voice seemed to catch in her throat. “Zuko…”

“Katara,” he spoke softly in return. “It’s okay.” He didn’t need to say any more, didn’t _want_ to say any more for fear of his own voice breaking and what would follow afterwards.

And Katara didn’t need any more words to understand what he was trying to say. Her pure sapphire eyes already seemed to be slipping… _fading_ as Zuko warmly placed his other hand over hers, still holding onto the lilacs.

Finally, for what seemed like an eternity of staring at each other, Katara relaxed her neck and leaned back comfortably, keeping her hand encased in Zuko’s, his inner fire still warming her. Zuko watched as her eyes slowly closed, a hearty smile painted on her face and she took a promising breath in. Her shoulders rolled down and all her muscles loosened in the tenseness that was present before.

“I’m tired,” she said calmly and gripped Zuko’s hand with her remaining energy.

Zuko returned the smile, squeezing back gently and then used one hand to pull the covers snuggly around Katara before returning his hand to its resting place.

“Sleep well.” _My dear_ he added in his thoughts.

The tranquil moonlight illuminated the small room through the open window. But Zuko could see the veins underneath her skin begin to sink.

...

Grasping at invisible lifelines

As the sand stands still

Leaving no regrets.

... 

The two old friends fell asleep faster than they expected, never moving from their position.  
 

And when morning came…  


And Zuko was the only one to wake up…  


He wrapped both of his warm hands around her cold hands lovingly…  


Trying to bend a gentle heat for her, knowing it was useless,   


And lowered his head as her element flowed from his eyes.    

_In such a small bed_  
_Can you really sleep well?_  
_You should wake up soon_  
_Sweetheart, it’s morning already…_


End file.
